Jesse Winchester
Musician · 1944–2014 · Shreveport, Louisiana
Best known for
Songwriter
Jesse Winchester was a Memphis-raised Louisiana-born country-folk songwriter who moved to Montreal in 1967 to avoid the Vietnam draft, settled there for thirty-six years, and wrote a catalog of songs — “Yankee Lady,” “Brand New Tennessee Waltz,” “Mississippi You’re on My Mind,” “Biloxi” — that became standards for James Taylor, Joan Baez, Lyle Lovett, and many others.
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- Born James Ridout “Jesse” Winchester Jr. on May 17, 1944, in Shreveport, Louisiana; raised first in Mississippi and then in Memphis from age six.
- Graduated from Williams College in 1966; received a Vietnam draft notice shortly afterward.
- Moved to Montreal in 1967 to avoid the draft; spent the next 36 years in Quebec.
- Joined the Montreal band Les Astronautes and began performing his own songs at the Montreal Folk Workshop and other Eastern Canadian coffeehouses.
- Recorded his self-titled 1970 Bearsville debut with the Band’s Robbie Robertson as producer; the album included “Brand New Tennessee Waltz,” “Payday,” “Biloxi,” “Yankee Lady,” and “Quiet About It.”
- Could not tour the United States until the 1977 Vietnam-era amnesty.
- His songs have been recorded by James Taylor, Joan Baez, Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, Rosanne Cash, Jimmy Buffett, Patti Page, and many others.
- Died of bladder cancer at his home on April 11, 2014, at age 69.
